Subject: [bitcoindev] Re: Proposing a P2QRH BIP towards a quantum resistant soft fork

From: Pierre-Luc Dallaire-Demers <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 14 Jun 2024 06:51:07 -0700 (PDT)

SQIsign is blockchain friendly but also very new, I would recommend adding 
a hash-based backup key in case an attack on SQIsign is found in the future 
(recall that SIDH broke over the span of a 
weekend https://eprint.iacr.org/2022/975.pdf).
Backup keys can be added in the form of a Merkle tree where one branch 
would contain the SQIsign public key and the other the public key of the 
recovery hash-based scheme. For most transactions it would only add one bit 
to specify the SQIsign branch.
The hash-based method could be Sphincs+, which is standardized by NIST but 
requires adding extra code, or Lamport, which is not standardized but can 
be verified on-chain with OP-CAT.

On Sunday, June 9, 2024 at 12:07:16 p.m. UTC-4 Hunter Beast wrote:

> The motivation for this BIP is to provide a concrete proposal for adding 
> quantum resistance to Bitcoin. We will need to pick a signature algorithm, 
> implement it, and have it ready in event of quantum emergency. There will 
> be time to adopt it. Importantly, this first step is a more substantive 
> answer to those with concerns beyond, "quantum computers may pose a threat, 
> but we likely don't have to worry about that for a long time". Bitcoin 
> development and activation is slow, so it's important that those with low 
> time preference start discussing this as a serious possibility sooner 
> rather than later.
>
> This is meant to be the first in a series of BIPs regarding a hypothetical 
> "QuBit" soft fork. The BIP is intended to propose concrete solutions, even 
> if they're early and incomplete, so that Bitcoin developers are aware of 
> the existence of these solutions and their potential.
>
> This is just a rough draft and not the finished BIP. I'd like to validate 
> the approach and hear if I should continue working on it, whether serious 
> changes are needed, or if this truly isn't a worthwhile endeavor right now.
>
> The BIP can be found here:
> https://github.com/cryptoquick/bips/blob/p2qrh/bip-p2qrh.mediawiki
>
> Thank you for your time.
>
>

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